Choosing an online counselling platform sounds like it would be a fairly straightforward business decision. Then you start looking.
There are video platforms, practice management systems, directories, scheduling tools, payment processors, and systems that bring much of this together in one place. Whew, it’s a lot to metabolize! They can look similar at first, but they don’t necessarily solve the same problems.
And when you’re a therapist running a business, the platform you choose can affect much more than how you get on a video call with a client. It can shape how people book with you, how much admin lands on your plate (oh the admin!), and how easy your practice is to manage day to day.
We know this because our needs have changed a lot over the years. The Perinatal Collective grew from Kate’s solo practice into a Canada-wide virtual practice with more than 20 therapists.
As we’ve written about before, there’s a lot that goes into figuring out how to build a therapy private practice, and the systems behind it became much more important as we grew.
Jane has grown with us through all of those changes.
Full disclosure: we are Jane ambassadors and Jane sponsors us. We had already been using Jane for several years before that relationship started. We’ve looked at other options over the years and have continued to stay with Jane because it works so well for the way we run our practice.
SimplePractice and Owl Practice are other platforms therapists often consider. For our practice, Jane has been the better fit. One feature we especially value is Jane’s Google Tag Manager integration, which connects your bookings to Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads. If you’re running Google Ads, you can see which campaigns and ad clicks are leading to new bookings. That information has been incredibly useful for our marketing decisions.
Jane also handles a lot of the client-facing side of our practice in one place, including scheduling, client files, billing, video sessions, intake forms, and payment processing.
So when people ask us about the best platform for online therapy, our answer starts with Jane. But before you choose any platform, it helps to get clear about what you actually need from it.
Start With What You Actually Need From an Online Counselling Platform
One of the things we talk about a lot with therapists is building a practice around your actual life. The same thinking applies when you choose the systems that run it.
What kind of practice do you have right now? Maybe you’re a solo practitioner providing a few virtual sessions each week. Maybe you’re building a full-time practice. Maybe you already have a team or hope to add one eventually.
Your needs will look different in each situation.
When Kate started her solo practice, she basically needed a secure way to provide online therapy. Today, we use far more of Jane’s features because our practice has changed significantly.
That experience has made us big believers in choosing systems that can change with you.
We also know how easy it is to get caught up comparing features. A platform can have an impressive list of capabilities, but that doesn’t necessarily mean those features are useful for your particular practice.
Think instead about the work you want your online counselling platform to take off your plate. Do you want clients to book themselves? Do you want billing and charting in the same system? Do you need something that works well for several practitioners with different schedules?
Jane has worked well for us because it is flexible enough to meet very different needs. It works for solo practitioners who want to simplify their admin, and it has continued to work for us as our team has expanded.
There’s also a familiarity factor we appreciate. Many prospective clients have already encountered Jane through another healthcare provider, such as a physiotherapist or massage therapist. That can make the technology feel familiar before they ever meet us.
Privacy and Security Need to Be Part of the Decision
Privacy and security are essential considerations when choosing a telehealth platform for therapists.
It can be tempting to see the word “secure” on a website and move on, but it’s worth understanding what that actually means for your practice.
Where is information stored? How are client records managed? Who can access them? What safeguards does the platform have in place?
Your own professional and jurisdictional requirements matter here too. A platform can provide security and privacy features, while therapists still need to understand the requirements that apply to their particular practice.
This has been another reason we have felt comfortable growing our practice with Jane. Jane has a team dedicated to privacy and data security, which matters when you’re trusting a platform with sensitive client information.
Think About the Client Experience, Not Just the Therapist Experience
It’s easy to evaluate an online therapy platform from your own side of the screen. But we also think about what it feels like to use the system as a client.
This matters especially in perinatal mental health.
Our clients may be sleep deprived. They may be trying to join therapy from bed while their baby naps. They may be sitting in their parked car because that is the only place they can get some privacy. Some are already carrying a significant mental load before they even get to the practical task of attending therapy.
We don’t want the technology to add unnecessary friction.
Online booking means someone can look at our availability and book privately when they have the capacity to do it. They don’t need to call during business hours or get into an email exchange about appointment times.
Automated reminders can help clients keep track of upcoming sessions. Paperless intake means forms can be completed before an appointment. The client portal gives people one place to access information related to their care. Waitlist alerts can also let clients know when an earlier appointment becomes available.
These might sound like administrative features, but they are also part of the client experience.
When you’re comparing platforms, try going through the process as though you were a new client. Look at how many steps it takes to book and what happens after the appointment is scheduled. A system can work beautifully for the practitioner and still be cumbersome for the person trying to access care.
Look at the Quality and Ease of the Virtual Therapy Experience
There is a bit of a technology spectrum between the two of us.
Kate is much more of a technophile. Melissa would happily describe herself as a technophobe.
Jane works for both of us.
That matters because your online counselling platform is something you’re going to interact with constantly. We don’t want to spend our workdays troubleshooting software, and we definitely don’t want clients doing that when they’re trying to get into a therapy appointment.
Consider what someone has to do to join a session. Look at whether the platform works reliably across devices and what happens if there is a technical issue.
Our clients join sessions from all kinds of real-life circumstances, and we’ve found Jane intuitive and consistent.
Good technology can fade into the background of the appointment. That gives the therapist and client more room to focus on the actual work they came there to do.
Decide Whether You Want One Platform or Several Separate Tools
You can absolutely build a virtual practice using separate systems. You might have one tool for video, another for scheduling, another for payment processing, and somewhere else for your client records.
For some therapists, that setup works well.
For us, having one central platform makes far more sense.
We’ve shared more about the systems we use and love in our business, because having the right tools has made a meaningful difference in how much we have to manage ourselves.
Running a therapy practice already comes with a lot to keep track of. Many therapists are also managing clinical work alongside parenting or other caregiving responsibilities. In our own business, we have learned repeatedly that our time and capacity are part of our business strategy.
Every additional system can mean another subscription to manage or another process to remember. When your workday is already full, that mental load matters.
Jane gives us one central place for many of the functions we use every day. We don’t have to piece together the client-facing side of the practice across a collection of unrelated tools.
For us, simpler systems leave more capacity for everything else that needs our attention.
Pay Attention to Scheduling, Billing and the Less Exciting Stuff
Nobody starts a therapy practice because they are passionate about emailing receipts.
I left my 9-to-5 job to become a private practice therapist so I could finally choose my own hours. Turns out I can. I can do admin at absolutely any hour of the day.
And there can be a surprising amount of it.
When you’re comparing an online therapy platform for therapists, look closely at what happens around the therapy session itself. How does someone book? What happens when they need to reschedule? How does payment work? How much of that process requires you to get involved?
These things can feel pretty minor when you’re seeing a handful of clients. As your caseload grows, those small tasks start taking up more space. A few minutes spent emailing about availability here, sending a receipt there, or sorting out a payment can add up over a week.
This is one of the reasons we love having so much of this automated through Jane. Clients can book themselves based on our actual availability, receive appointment reminders, pay through the platform, and get their receipts without us manually managing each step. Our therapists can also manage their own schedules, which becomes especially helpful when you have a larger team.
We also love the calendar sync option. As working moms, our work calendars have to exist in the same universe as school schedules, appointments, childcare, and everything else happening in our lives.
We want to spend our limited work time on the parts of the practice that need our attention. When a platform can handle repetitive admin in the background, we get some of that time and mental space back.
Consider What the Platform Costs, Including the Hidden Costs
Of course, price matters.
Look at the monthly subscription, but also pay attention to payment-processing fees, costs for additional practitioners, and whether the features you need require additional subscriptions.
Then consider the cost that is harder to see on a pricing page: your time.
We talk a lot in our work with therapists about getting realistic about capacity. Time is a precious resource, particularly when you are building a business alongside caregiving and the rest of your life.
A cheaper platform can become expensive in a different way if you’re spending hours manually sending reminders, processing payments, coordinating bookings, or fixing technical issues.
We would rather look at value in terms of what a system gives back to the practice.
That includes money, of course. It also includes the amount of work the system removes from our plates.
Think About Where Your Practice Might Be Going
You don’t need a five-year business plan before choosing your platform. It is useful, though, to think a little beyond what you need today.
We could not have predicted everything The Perinatal Collective would become when Kate first started her solo practice. We now have a Canada-wide team with more than 20 therapists, and the way we use Jane has evolved alongside the practice.
If growth is something you’re considering, look at whether a platform can accommodate additional practitioners and different permissions. Think about whether you can manage different schedules and services as the practice becomes more complex.
And if you already have an established practice and are considering changing platforms, migration matters too.
Moving years of client information into a new system can feel daunting. We have heard from other practitioners who have made the move to Jane that its team helped make that transition much easier.
You don’t need to choose software based on every possible version of your future practice. But choosing something flexible can save you from rebuilding your systems every time your business changes.
Don’t Underestimate Customer Support and Ease of Use
This is one of those things that can be difficult to evaluate from a comparison chart.
What happens when you need help?
Technology is not the work we came here to do. We want to be therapists and business owners without also becoming our own IT department.
This is one of the things we consistently appreciate about Jane.
Their support is responsive and human. We particularly love the online chat because you can connect with an actual person and get help when you need it.
That has mattered at every stage of our business. A platform might have all the features you want, but if figuring out how to use those features becomes another project on your list, they are not necessarily making your practice easier to run.
Questions to Ask Before Choosing an Online Counselling Platform
If you’re comparing options, these are some of the questions we would keep nearby:
- Does this platform meet the privacy and security requirements relevant to my practice?
- Can clients easily book, change, and attend appointments?
- Is the virtual session experience straightforward for clients?
- Does it include the charting and documentation features I need?
- Can it manage billing, payments, invoices, and receipts?
- How much manual administrative work will still be required?
- What will it actually cost once additional fees are included?
- Does it integrate with other systems I rely on?
- Can it continue to work if I move from a solo to a group practice?
- Can I manage different permissions for different members of my team?
- If I’m switching platforms, what is involved in transferring my existing information?
- What onboarding and customer support are available?
- Does this system make running my practice easier?
You don’t necessarily need the platform that checks the most boxes. You need one that makes sense for your clients and the practice you’re building.
Why We Use Jane App for Online Counselling
At this point, our answer is probably pretty obvious: we use Jane.
And yes, we are Jane ambassadors. Jane sponsors us now, but our relationship with the platform started long before our ambassador relationship. We used Jane for around seven years before becoming ambassadors.
We recommend it because we know what it is like to run a practice with it.
We’ve used Jane as a small practice and as a Canada-wide team. It has supported our online booking and virtual sessions, and we use it for charting, billing, scheduling, payments, team management, and practice data.
It also integrates with Google Analytics 4, which has been particularly valuable for us as business owners. Being able to understand whether a client booking came from a particular Google Ad gives us better information about where our marketing budget is working.
And we keep coming back to ease. Our clients can book online and receive reminders. Our therapists can manage their schedules. The administrative side of the practice requires less manual involvement from us.
We’re also grateful that Jane sponsors The Perinatal Collective’s annual Perinatal Mental Health Conference. It means a lot to us to have a company we already use in our practice choosing to support education in perinatal mental health.
If you decide Jane is the right online counselling platform for your practice, you can use our ambassador code perinatal1mo for a one-month grace period.
Choosing a Platform That Makes Your Practice Easier to Run
Your online counselling platform eventually becomes part of the everyday infrastructure of your practice. Clients interact with it when they book and attend appointments, while you interact with it throughout your workweek.
That makes choosing one about more than video quality or the monthly subscription price.
Think about the practice you are actually running. Consider the amount of time and capacity you have available to manage it. Look for systems that fit into that reality and can continue to support you as your work evolves.
We have spent years learning that good business systems can give us back some of our most limited resources: time and mental capacity. That matters to us as therapists, business owners, and working parents.
There may not be one best platform for online therapy for every therapist. Jane has been the right one for us, from Kate’s early solo-practice days through the much larger Perinatal Collective we run now.
And after all those years, we’re still using it.
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